Preparing for Navigation and Communication

Of course, I need to be able to navigate accurately with ease and communicate when / if needed. Due to my NASA Space Shuttle Mission Control background, I was trained early on in my career to have redundancy for everything, and you'll see that in my plan below.

For navigation, I plan to use the Lowrance Elite 5  to drive GPS into into the GX2150 for AIS and to control the Autohelm ST 1000+ . In addition, I have plotted out all of my way-points and routes in iNavX on my iPad 4 and transferred them to my iPhone 6. I have waterproof cases for both of my "i" devices, and both are mounted. For back-up to my back-ups, I have an old Garmin GPS III Plus that I will keep with spare batteries in my emergency ditch kit.

 ST 1000+ shown in connected position.

 To enable quick disconnect, I put a small bungee around the ST 1000+ and wrapped it around the stern light bar support.

 

When I first installed the ST 1000+ control/power wire outlet, I put it on the aft deck near the autopilot. This proved to be a very wet location. So, I cut a hole in the aft end of the starboard cockpit seat and installed a Bowmar T-handle inspection port and put the control/power wire outlet inside. This has proven to be a very dry spot for this critical wire connection.

I know some of you are thinking, "OK, cool, but what about the main sheet traveler?" Well, it is true that I can't let the traveler all the way out to starboard, but almost all the way. I tied a knot in the traveler line so that the traveler car can't slam into the wire if the wind catches the main when the traveler line is not secure.

The Lowrance Elite 5 (shown above) has a stern mounted depth sounder / sonar (shown below)

For general communication, I have the fixed VHF with AIS Receiver - Standard Horizon Matrix AIS / GX2150. I have a Shakespeare mast mounted antenna / windex for this VHF, and I have a Shakespeare back-up antenna in case I loose the rig. In addition, I have an old ICOM hand-held VHF that I will keep with spare batteries in my emergency ditch kit.